Five persons were reportedly burnt to ashes on Saturday in Kwara State during a fire outbreak that was caused by the spill from a tanker carrying petroleum.
Unofficial sources claimed that the victims lost their lives to the incident that occurred along the Ilorin- Jebba road in Moro local government area of the state.
The sources said the incident occured when the tanker fell and emptied its inflammable content on the road.
“some of the product found its way into a gutter which was later ignited from a fire of some residents cooking outside. Two children that went to fetch water were torched while returning but one died in the process and the second is battling for his life at a hospital. A man defecating in the bush was also burnt and about three people that were still scooping the product when the tanker caught fire were burnt to ashes.
“We only discovered their charred bodies the next day. But we have about five deaths while around seven people have been injured so far”, a source said.
When contacted, the spokesman of Kwara Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, confirmed the incident, adding that the fire outbreak was handled by the Fire Service of the Jebba paper Mill.
“Several people were injured while some victims later died at the hospital. But I cannot put a figure to the casualties now”, Adekunle stated.
